The exceptionally rare 3800 Nautilus' with factory diamond settings are amongst of the most mouth-watering pieces ever made by the maison, and only very few have been executed in white gold. Patek Philippe introduced the ref. 3800 as the midsize brother of the original 3700 Nautilus, clocking in at a diameter of 37.5 mm. The 3800 wasn’t just a shrunken Nautilus, but introduced some important improvements vis-à-vis its big brother. For instance, the 3800 was the first Nautilus to feature an in-house automatic movement: the caliber 335 SC. Unlike the ‘Jumbo’ Nautilus, the 3800 also came with a central seconds hand (as indicated by the “SC”, which stands for seconde centrale). While this might seem like a minute (pun intended) detail, the sweeping seconds adds loads of dynamism to the original Nautilus’ rather static dial. The ref. 3800/3 is an uncommon sub-reference of the 3800 that features a sumptuous diamond set bezel and index. Typically most precious-metal midsize models are executed in yellow gold. Only a dozen 3800/3 in white gold ever surfaced. Albeit this being the third we have had the pleasure of owning, this is the only one in this exact configuration. The dial is nothing to sneeze at. Executed in cream-colored lacquer, it provides a pleasing warm counterweight to the coolness of the white gold. The traditional baton markers on the dial are traded for factory-set brilliant cut diamonds, while two printed Greek sigmas (“σ swiss σ”) at the six o’clock position indicate that the hands and the chatons holding the diamonds are made of 18k gold. Inside the handset we find a slightly discoloured tritium inlay.
- extrasExtract From The Archives
- reference3800/3G
- modelNautilius
